Let it snow…

Since my last update and blog entry I’ve been busy, with a short trip to mainland Europe taken plus a lot of photo processing going on in the background. This update covers the remaining German E-loks, with some sorting out concerning how best to break down the Class 189 (ES64F4) locomotives. I’ve also updated the Austrian and Italian locomotives section, with shots from the first trip this year.

As a deal with the better half last year who commented that I had spent a fair amount of time abroad in 2014 I agreed to take less trips but slightly longer duration in 2015 with the caveat I would go across to the European mainland at the start of the year to chase down some snow shots I had been promising myself. The original intention had been to go across in January but for reasons which now escape me I decided to wait till February. I of course then spent January cursing as some lovely shots of locomotives passing through snow but with the sun out were posted online by others. When February came I spent the time leading up to my trip scouring the internet for snow forecasts , with some suggesting I was going to have snow in Münich and some decent snow in other locations. In reality it did not happen that way but I did get to photograph some locomotives in the snow on the Austrian/Italian border at Brenner.

Austrian registered 1216 016-6 departs South from Brenner on the Austrian / Italian border with EC81 07:38 München Hbf to Bologna on Tuesday 16th of February 2016.

Being on the Austrian/Italian border I of got to photograph some Italian registered locomotives. The location itself I would have happily stayed at for longer but when the snow is falling and the temperature is registering somewhere around -10 ºC, the joy slowly seeps out of you, no matter how much you like the hobby. Also knowing there is a train once every two hours back to Germany, and on the train is a warm bar serving beer and food, then the decision becomes easier as to whether to go or stay.

Italian registered 412 013-1 and 412 017-2 arrive at Brenner station from Italy with an Intermodal service on Tuesday the 16th of February 2016.

As mentioned at the start of this post I have changed around how I showed the German Class 189 (ES64F4) locomotives. I did have them split into four sections but these were getting unwieldy and confusing, too me at least. I have decided to now split them between “packages” carried. The Siemens ES64F4 makes a very good effort to be a locomotive available for use across all of mainland Europe. The locomotive can carry the four main pantographs for picking up power across mainland Europe (15kV AC, 25kV AC, 1.5kV DC & 3kV DC), it also has a variable LED lighting system which allows it to show the required lighting set up of each country. The packages cover the various train control and safety systems of the countries concerned.

189 822-0 (VE) liveried up and on hire to Steiermarkbahn Transport and Logistik GmbH heads East away from Würzburg with a loaded Timber train whilst working DGS81346 Freigburg (Saxony) to Augsburg on Friday the 5th June 2015

My next update will cover German diesels which should be my last set of updates before my next trip out to Germany later this month.